A wearable solar cell can be soaked in water, stretched and compressed

Photo of the ultra-thin organic solar cells

Scientists from RIKEN and the University of Tokyo have developed a new type of ultra-thin photovoltaic device, coated on both sides with stretchable and waterproof films, which can continue to provide electricity from sunlight even after being soaked in water or being stretched and compressed. The work, published in Nature Energy, could open the way to wearable solar cells, which will provide power to devices such as health monitors incorporated into clothing.

One of the requirements of the Internet of Things—referring to a world where devices of all sorts are connected to the Internet—is the development of power sources for a host of devices, including devices that can be worn on the body. According to Takao Someya, the leader of the research group, these could include sensors that record heartbeats and body temperature, for example, providing early warning of medical problems. In the past, attempts have been made to create photovoltaics that could be incorporated into textiles, but typically they lacked at least one of the important properties—long-term stability in both air and water, energy efficiency, and robustness including resistance to deformation—that are key to successful devices.

For the present work, the members of the research group developed extremely thin and flexible organic photovoltaic cells, based on a material called PNTz4T, which they had developed in earlier work. They deposited the device in an inverse architecture, which they had previously developed, onto a 1-um-thick parylene film. The ultra-thin device was then placed onto acrylic-based elastomer and the top side of the device was coated with an identical elastomer, giving it a coating on both sides to prevent water infiltration.. The elastomer, while allowing light to enter, prevented water and air from leaking into the cells, making them more long-lasting than previous experiments.

The researchers then subjected the device to a variety of tests, finding first that it had a strong energy efficiency of 7.9 percent, producing a current of 7.86 milliwatts per square centimeter, as the current density was 13.8 milliamperes per square centimeter at 0.57 volts, based on a simulated sunlight of 100 milliwatts per square centimeter. To test its resistance to water, they soaked it in water for two hours, and found that the efficiency decreased by just 5.4 percent. And to test the durability, they subjected it to compression, and found that after compressing by nearly half for twenty cycles while placing drops of water on it, it still had 80 percent of the original efficiency.

According to Kenjiro Fukuda of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, “We were very gratified to find that our device has great environmental stability while simultaneously having a good efficiency and mechanical robustness. We very much hope that these washable, lightweight and stretchable organic photovoltaics will open a new avenue for use as a long-term power source system for wearable sensors and other devices.”

Learn more: A solar cell you can put in the wash

The Latest on: Wearable solar cell

[google_news title=”” keyword=”wearable solar cell” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]

Hanwha, QCells to deepen manufacturing presence in Georgia with solar encapsulant plant
on March 24, 2023 at 5:08 am
HAGA will construct a solar encapsulant film factory in Bartow County, the same county as QCells’ planned 8.4GW ingot, wafer, cell and module manufacturing facility expansion. The encapsulant – which ...
The US’s first-ever complete solar supply chain is coming [update]
on March 23, 2023 at 7:33 am
PV solar-cell manufacturing giant Qcells is investing more than $2.5 billion to build a complete solar supply chain in the US.
Making Solar Cells
on March 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm
We will admit that it is unlikely you have enough gear in your basement to make a solar cell using these steps. However, it is interesting to see how a bare silicon wafer becomes a solar cell.
Q Cells Solar Panels Review: Cost, Installers And Performance 2023
on March 20, 2023 at 12:40 am
Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. Q Cells Solar Panels have been in production since the late 1990s, but were not a popular energy option until 2012 when the original ...
Solar Cells, Half Off
on March 13, 2023 at 5:00 pm
A company named Leap Photovoltaic claims they have a technology to create solar panels without silicon wafers which would cut production costs in half. According to [FastCompany] the cells are ...
Flexible Solar Cell Can Be Woven Into Energy-Harvesting Fabric
on March 13, 2023 at 5:00 pm
In addition to the flexible solar cell, Peng and fellow researchers also are developing a number of other flexible energy sources, including electrochemical capacitors and lithium-ion batteries, for ...
Ruddlesden-Popper perovskite solar cell with 18.73% efficiency
on March 9, 2023 at 9:42 am
these cells are more stable,” researcher Yiqiang Zhang told pv magazine. “They are suitable for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), conventional solar, and wearable devices, featuring ...
Study suggests lead from innovative solar cells is not as toxic as feared
on February 27, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Perovskite solar cells are a highly promising photovoltaic technology, which could provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. With a top recorded power conversion efficiency of 25.7% ...
Scientists May Have Just Created the Most Absorbent Solar Cell Ever
on February 26, 2023 at 11:25 am
Scientists have developed a solar cell that is capable of converting direct sunlight into electricity with 44.5 percent efficiency — making it, potentially, the most efficient solar cell in the ...
Inside a Solar Cell
on April 24, 2007 at 5:00 am
Solar panels capture sunlight and convert it to electricity using photovoltaic (PV) cells like the one illustrated above. Such cells, which can power everything from calculators to cars (our ...